My guess....after holiday return period means every retailer has an avalanche of returns to deal with.
Add to that reduced staffing levels due to pandemic. Mix that in with generally limited resources devoted
to things like returns and CS (by many vendors). Add bad weather. We all know the result.... and it's not pretty.
I will say I have generally had acceptable return handling from Dooney and ILD. But.... I don't expect
or usually get them to pay for a return. I've learned not to waste my time and emotions arguing,
and just use their return form and pay their fee (plus tax, in my state). Since it was free shipping to
me, it's less expensive than many other companies returns, not to mention shipping on the front end.
Also, I return an item immediately after I get it, if I decide I don't want it for any reason. I try not to
get caught up in high volume holiday return periods or high volume UPS shipping times.
I do these things because I am trying to eliminate stress in my life. I find the entire return process to
be very stressful.... from packaging up an item, to taking it to UPS, tracking shipping and delivery,
waiting for a refund to post to my credit card. So, I limit my returns (and as a result have kept things
I never should have ordered, not smart) and when I do a return I make sure that I plan
for every contingency and stay well within the return window. Just my way of coping.
When I feel I am not treated right by a company, then I stop buying from them. For example, I've stopped buying from Macy's because they charged me for 2 of an item but only shipped 1. I had UPS weight info to substantiate my 'claim'. But there was no one home at CS for months, due to the pandemic, and no way to handle the issue online. Other companies moved CS to remote operation and had CS people working from home. Paypal was no help either. I eventually got the problem resolved.... but it took me about 5 months of trying. So, no more online orders for me from that store.
Not worth the time and stress. I've also had issues with some orders from Amazon. I understand the pandemic greatly affected everyone, and some companies really tried to do the best they could. Other companies fell far short of acceptable CS.
I've also learned that for most companies, no matter how nice CS is on the phone, their reps rarely
have the ability to do much outside of normal procedures. It's true for Dooney, ILD, Coach, and
department stores. Once I learn their rules, even if I don't like them, I stop trying to get accommodations or exceptions. With Dooney and ILD, once an order is placed on the system....
there is no changing it or cancelling it or getting a price adjustment. And with ILD there are no exchanges, just returns and repurchases. Coach promises things, but each rep tells a different story and the result is often the same..... just return the bag you don't want and buy a new one when the
price is right for you. Anyway, that's my experience. We each get to spend our money where and on what we want. And we all have different challenges to cope with.
